Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

You are here: Home / Archives for energy

energy

The Largest U.S. Solar Project | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The largest solar project to date in the U.S. has received final approval from the Department of the Interior.   A $1 billion, 690-megawatt solar array will be built on federal land in the Mojave Desert in Nevada.   The project includes battery energy storage and is expected to produce enough electricity to power more than a quarter million homes.  It will also offset the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 83,000 cars a year.

The current largest U.S. installation, the Solar Star Farm in Southern California, completed in 2015, generates 579 megawatts of power.

Construction of the Gemini Solar Array is expected to start sometime this year and be completed by 2022 or 2023.  The first phase of the project will cover 11 square miles of desert land about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

Some conservation groups have fought against the project, saying that it will destroy thousands of acres of habitat for endangered desert tortoises as well as other rare plant and animal species.  The groups agree that solar energy is a good thing but are convinced that the location selected is the wrong one. 

Interior Department representatives note that the Gemini Project will provide jobs and economic growth at a time when many Americans in general and Nevada citizens in particular are struggling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project is projected to generate $713 million in economic activity and employ about 2,000 people during construction.  However, once it is up and running, it will employ just 19 full-time workers.

**********

Web Links

The Largest Solar Project in the U.S. Gets Green Light

Photo, posted January 26, 2014, courtesy of Jannes Glas via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Methane-Eating Bacteria And Greenhouse Gas Emissions | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

One of the great concerns about the warming Arctic temperatures is that thawing permafrost will release alarming amounts of methane into the atmosphere.  Organic material in the permafrost begins to decompose when temperatures rise, and methane is released in the process.

Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.  Methane’s lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide, but it is more efficient at trapping radiation.  Pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane is more than 25 times greater than carbon dioxide.

A new study, published by scientists at Purdue University, has discovered a type of methane-oxidizing bacteria living in upland Arctic soils that could potentially be reducing the amount of methane emitted by decomposing permafrost.

The findings of the research indicate that the net greenhouse gas emissions from the Arctic may be much smaller than previously modeled because of the increased productivity of a type of bacteria known as high affinity methanotrophs, or HAMs.  This group of bacteria uses atmospheric methane as an energy source.  The emissions from wetlands will potentially be very large, but the contribution from the uplands will be mitigated by the bacteria.

Organic-rich soils, including permafrost, comprise only 13% of the Arctic land area and are the major source of methane emissions.  The other 87% of the region is dominated by mineral-rich soils that support HAMs.  Because of this, overall methane emissions continue to be less than climate models have predicted.

While this is good news, the researchers warn that Arctic emissions overall will continue to increase as shown in other studies.

**********

Web Links

Methane-Eating Bacteria Could Help Decrease Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Thawing Arctic Tundra

Photo, posted July 12, 2016, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Small-Scale Climate Solutions | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In order to meet international climate targets, we need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half over the next decade and reach net-zero by mid-century.  Achieving this will require unprecedented and rapid changes in how energy is supplied, distributed and used.

Researchers at several European universities collected data on a wide variety of energy technologies at different scales and tested how well they performed in accomplishing an accelerated low-carbon transformation. 

Large-scale, costly, non-divisible or so-called lumpy technologies, such as utility-scale generation, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, high-speed transportation, and whole-building retrofits are often seen as the most effective way to achieve emission-reduction goals. A key finding of their study is that low-carbon technologies that are smaller scale and can be mass deployed are more likely to enable a faster transition to net-zero emissions.

So-called granular options include solar panels, electricity storage batteries, heat pumps, smart thermostats, electric bikes, and ride-share services.  These options scale not by becoming larger but by replicating.

Small-scale options are quicker to deploy, their technologies have shorter lifespans and are less complex, so innovations and improvements can be brought to market more rapidly.  They are also more widely accessible and help create more jobs, giving governments a sound basis for strengthening climate policies.

However, smaller-scale technologies are not a panacea.  There are no small-scale replacements for industrial plants and other kinds of major infrastructure, but in many different contexts, they can outperform larger-scale alternatives as a means of accelerating the low-carbon transformation.

**********

Web Links

Smaller scale solutions needed for rapid progress towards emissions targets

Photo, posted April 8, 2019, courtesy of the City of St Pete via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Recycling Coal Plants | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Over 300 coal-fired power plants in the US have stopping burning coal over the past decade.  Only about 224 plants still produce power by burning coal.  As a result, a new sort of recycling industry is taking shape:  repurposing of coal plants.

Across the country, utilities are finding ways to redevelop these facilities.  Some are industrial in nature and others a far cry from their original purpose.

In January, Beloit College in Wisconsin opened a student union and recreation center in what used to be an Alliant Energy coal-fired power plant.  On the southern coast of Massachusetts, a shuttered 1,600 MW coal plant is being demolished to make way for a logistical port and support center for a planned wind farm 35 miles off shore.

In Independence, Missouri, the city is considering competing plans to recycle the Blue Valley Power plant.  It may become a 50 MW battery storage facility, or possibly a biofuel plant.

Another popular reuse strategy is data centers.  Data centers use tremendous amounts of power and therefore can make use of the former coal plants’ capacity to handle large amounts of electricity.

Retired coal-fired plants have built-in infrastructure and components that can be repurposed for new industry.  The plants typically have access to rail, ports and waterways, as well as proximity to good highway transportation.  The electrical grids to which they are connected can be reused for solar or wind farms at the site.

Given that coal plants are continuing to close, the potential to redevelop them in various ways continues to grow as well.   There is a surge in interest in coal plant redevelopment because these facilities are assets of value.

**********

Web Links

Coal-fired power plants finding new uses as data centers, clean energy hubs

Photo, posted January 10, 2017, courtesy of Rusty Clark via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Coronavirus And European Energy | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

As people all over the world shelter in place and much ordinary commerce and other activities have ground to a halt, there have been big changes in energy usage.   With production halted, offices shut down, schools closed, and public transport operated on reduced timetables, the demand for energy has decreased dramatically.

In Europe, as a result of all this, during the first quarter of this year, renewables’ share of total energy production was greater than 60%.  Wind farms provided more than 40% of the renewables’ share of total electricity generation.   During February, Denmark, Germany and Ireland saw nearly 50% of their electricity demand met with wind power.  Hydroelectric power was the second largest source of renewable energy during the first quarter, with Norway providing the largest share of this.  In contrast, generation from nuclear plants was at its lowest first quarter figure for the past five years.

The large shift to renewable generation was in great part due to the overall reduction in demand.  This impacts nuclear and fossil-fuel generation much more than renewables because those plants can be throttled back or shut down entirely so as not to needlessly consume costly fuels.   Generation that runs on sunlight, wind, or flowing water does not require fuel expenses, so it makes sense to prefer them when demand is reduced.

The reduction in demand has in turn had a major effect on fuel costs as oil reached low prices that haven’t been seen in years.

The decline in demand and fuel prices and the enhanced role of renewables are expected to continue in the current quarter as the timetable for renewed economic activity remains unknown.

**********

Web Links

Renewables achieve clean energy record as COVID-19 hits demand

Photo, posted June 25, 2010, courtesy of Martin Abegglen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wind Power Overtakes Hydroelectric Power | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In 2019, the amount of electricity generated by wind power surpassed hydroelectric power for the first time, making wind the largest renewable source of electricity generation in the country.

Total wind generation in 2019 was 300 million MWh, which was 26 million MWh more than was produced by hydroelectric plants.

Hydroelectric generation has fluctuated between 250 and 320 million MWh over the past decade.  The capacity base has been stable, so the fluctuations were a result of variable annual precipitation.   Hydroelectric generation is generally greatest in the spring when rain and melting snow pack increase water runoff.

The growth in wind power is primarily a result of increasing capacity rather than any major fluctuations in wind caused by changing weather.  The U.S. added about 10 GW of wind capacity in 2019, making it the second largest year for capacity additions ever, second only to 2012.

Wind energy is an intermittent source, meaning that it isn’t windy all the time.  The average annual capacity factor for the U.S. wind fleet over the past decade has been 28 to 35%, meaning that is the amount of energy actually produced compared with the systems running at continuous full power all the time.  By comparison, the U.S. hydroelectric fleet operated at 35 to 43% of capacity during that period.  So, wind power is actually not that much less a steady source than hydroelectric power.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the government’s production tax credit, which was extended through this year, means that wind power capacity in the U.S. will continue to grow at a robust pace.  Meanwhile, some dams are being decommissioned and there is little new construction in the hydropower sector.

**********

Web Links

Wind has overtaken the top position for renewable generation in the U.S., EIA says

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Building The World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage Plant | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

The Monterey County Planning Commission has unanimously approved a joint project between Tesla and Pacific Gas and Electric to turn the Moss Landing Power Plant in California into the world’s largest battery energy storage facility.

The Moss Landing Power Plant is a natural gas-powered electricity generation plant located at the midpoint of California’s Monterey Bay.  At one time, it was the largest power plant in the state of California with a generation capacity of 2560 MW but has been gradually shutting down over time.

The new facility will incorporate 1.2 GWh of storage capacity for energy generated by solar and wind systems.  The stored energy will be available for use during periods of high energy demand and lower output.  This is about ten times larger than Tesla’s Hornsdale energy storage project in Australia, which was three times bigger than any other batter storage facility when it was built a few years ago.  In 2018, the battery system at Hornsdale made back a third of its cost in just one year.  The systems make use of Tesla’s Megapack battery products which come in pre-assembled units that provide 3 MWh of energy storage capacity.

The project will make use of existing power lines to transmit energy around Monterey County and parts of Silicon Valley.  Tesla and PG&E hope to break ground in early spring with completion scheduled for the end of the year.  California has been adding massive amounts of wind and solar power to its electrical grid and incorporating energy storage is an important step towards creating a truly resilient power system.

**********

Web Links

Humongous Tesla Battery Plant Approved In California Is 10× Bigger Than World’s Biggest Battery Plant

Photo, posted September 22, 2019, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Companies Promise Climate Action | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

A growing number of major corporations are making promises on climate and the promises are getting more ambitious and for faster action.  More companies are disclosing their carbon emissions and more of those companies have emissions reduction targets. 

There has also been an acceleration in the rate at which companies set so-called science-based targets, which are specific, measurable carbon reduction goals that align the company with the Paris Agreement.  Among the hundreds of companies with such targets are Coca-Cola, Nike, Best Buy, Walmart, and Hilton Hotels.  According to one analysis, the number of Fortune 500 companies with concrete, ambitious carbon targets quadrupled in the past four year to 23%.

Environmental advocates have been pressuring companies for decades, but companies seem to be far more proactive now despite the fact that the U.S. government has largely dropped the ball on climate issues.

The reasons include the fact that the effects of climate change are becoming clearer to companies.  Wildfires, rising sea levels, droughts and other aspects of the crisis both make headlines and affect business operations.

Meanwhile, solar and wind energy have gotten significantly cheaper, making it more attractive for companies to shift away from fossil fuels.

At the same time, investors are increasingly asking companies to act on climate issues.  Consumers, employees, and the general public are increasingly demanding action and even children are adding to the pressure to act.

Making these commitments is one thing; following through on them and sticking to them is another.  There are real concerns that there is a great deal of green-washing going on among companies trying to project a favorable image.  In any case, if companies really want to lead on climate, they need to put their money where their mouths are.

**********

Web Links

Better Late Than Never? Big Companies Scramble To Make Lofty Climate Promises

Photo, posted June 22, 2016, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Foods of the Future? | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

In a world where many go hungry in the context of rapidly changing environments, many experts contend that alternative food sources will be necessary to solve global food security problems.  So-called novel food sources are central to this conversation, defined as foods with no history of consumption in a region – or perhaps anywhere.

Three popular examples are lab-grown meat, insect farming, and seaweed aquaculture.  Each of these offer opportunities as well as challenges.

Lab-grown meat can refer to actual animal tissues raised in vats as well as the increasingly common cultured plant products made to resemble meat.  Lab-grown meat faces push back from the livestock industry that contends it should not be labeled as any kind of meat. While results to date are positive, barriers still remain including concerns over product taste, healthiness, and cost.  And while less land- and water-intensive than conventional livestock, cultured meat production is still energy intensive.

Insects do form a significant part of diets across the globe but have yet to be embraced in any substantial way in western cultures.  Nutritionally, numerous species of insects are rich in key proteins, micronutrients, and minerals.  But the “yuck factor” is a big barrier to cross.

Seaweed is a long-established part of many East Asian diets and has many potential dietary uses.  Several selectively bred varieties of seaweed supply a range of valuable nutrients.  Growing seaweed does not tax freshwater and terrestrial resources.  But intensively cultivated seaweeds would have potential negative effects on local marine ecosystems.

There is no single solution to complex issues like food security.  Novel foods may very well form part of the solution to a growing food crisis.

**********

Web Links

Insects, seaweed and lab-grown meat could be the foods of the future

Photo, posted March 12, 2009, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Strategies To Promote Green Products | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Green products are environmentally-friendly products with features that are less harmful to people and the planet.  For instance, green products may require fewer resources to produce, consume less energy, contain non-toxic ingredients, or create fewer emissions.  Some examples include biodegradable waste bags, LED light bulbs, low-flow shower heads, organic cotton clothing, and reusable coffee cups and water bottles.  

But according to new research from two universities in the United Kingdom, companies looking to promote their latest environmentally-friendly product should actually downplay its greenness if they want consumers to buy it.

The study, by researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Leeds, found advertising that highlights a product’s green attributes can lead consumers to associate it with weak performance.  The findings, which were recently published in the Journal of Advertising, indicate that companies should downplay a product’s green qualities and instead promote it on more traditional aspects.

An example of these two distinct advertising strategies – green emphasis versus green understatement – can be found in the auto industry.  Car manufacturer Toyota prominently highlights the low emissions and low fuel consumption features of the Prius, employing what the researchers term as ‘explicit signals’.  In contrast, automaker Tesla reduces the prominence of its green attributes, focusing instead on its cars’ acceleration, handling, and other performance-related characteristics.  This is known as the ‘implicit signals’ marketing approach.

After conducting two experiments, the research team found that the implicit, rather than explicit, marketing approach about greenness leads to higher performance evaluations and purchase intent.

Consumers appear more likely to engage in pro-social actions when it’s accompanied by some form of personal benefit. 

**********

Web Links

Highlighting product greenness may put consumers off buying

Photo, posted December 21, 2019, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lifestyle And Carbon Footprint | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Many studies have shown, to no great surprise, that affluent lifestyles lead to larger carbon footprints. Households in Switzerland enjoy a high standard of living and a team of researchers there has been studying the consumption and travel habits of Swiss citizens to better understand the impact of various factors on carbon footprint. Key factors include household composition and income, and whether the households are in the city or the countryside – even though, in the end, people’s lifestyles do not differ greatly from one environment to another. 

A team of researchers at EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering analyzed data from Switzerland’s household budget survey for 2008, 2011 and 2014.  They combined that data with an environmentally extended input-output analysis to assess households’ carbon footprints by measuring their direct and indirect emissions.

Overall, households in the countryside have larger carbon footprints than those in the city, mainly because they travel more and use more energy in their homes. But urban households have larger carbon footprints than their rural counterparts when it comes to food, clothing, cultural activities and air travel.  

A household’s composition directly influences its carbon footprint. A two-person household has the largest per-capita carbon footprint, and it falls as the size of the family grows since many of the same resources are shared by more people. 

Income levels play an important role.  People consume without much thought because they can afford to and enjoy doing it. But there is a trend towards people becoming more conscious of their levels of consumption and trying to be more responsible in Switzerland.  Overall consumption has actually declined over the years studied.  

**********

Web Links

Our carbon footprint is highly impacted by how we live

Photo, posted December 19, 2017, courtesy of Alexander Kozik via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar-Powered Desalination | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

About 1% of the world’s population is dependent on desalinated water to meet daily needs, but water scarcity is a growing problem that experts believe will affect 14% of the world’s population within the next five years.

Desalination takes much more energy than, for example, transporting fresh water over large distances.  In general, desalination costs are much higher than those associated with fresh water, but beyond costs, freshwater is simply not always available.

Researchers at MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China have developed a completely passive solar-powered desalination system that could provide more than 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water per hour for every square meter of solar collecting area.   Such a system could provide an efficient, low-cost water source for coastal areas that are off the grid.

The system uses multiple layers of flat solar evaporators and condensers topped with transparent aerogel insulation.  The key to its efficiency is the way it uses each of its multiple stages to desalinate water.  At each stage, heat released by the previous stage is harnessed instead of wasted.  The proof-of-concept device, which was tested on an MIT building rooftop, produced more than twice as much water as the record amount produced by any previous passive solar-powered desalination system.

The researchers plan further experiments aimed at optimizing the choice of materials and configurations and to test the system under realistic conditions.  The hope is to have a technology that can play a role in alleviating water scarcity in parts of the world where electricity is scarce, but seawater and sunlight are abundant.

**********

Web Links

Simple, solar-powered water desalination

Photo courtesy of MIT/researchers.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

An Ecological Trap For Polar Bears | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Climate change has been shrinking Arctic sea ice and this is causing changes in the behavior of polar bears.   The Southern Beaufort Sea, located where the northern edges of Alaska and Canada meet, is home to one of the 19 population groups of polar bears.  Historically, the polar bears in this region remained on sea ice year-round.  But in recent decades, about a quarter of them have chosen to come on land instead of staying on the shrinking summer ice platform.

A recent study by San Diego Zoo Global, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Polar Bears International looked at the energetic consequences of the bears’ behavior.  The decision of each individual bear to stay on the ice or move to land appears to be linked to the energetic cost or benefit of the choice.

Bears who moved to land expended more energy during the summer than bears that remained on the sea ice.  In late summer, as the ice became even more restricted, a greater amount of energy was expended by bears swimming to land.  So, the immediate energy cost of moving to land is much greater than remaining on the receding pack ice.

On the other hand, bears on land in this region have access to whale carcasses in the summer while bears on the sea ice appear to be fasting.  As a result, it may be the case that the declining population of bears in this region is in part caused by the ecological trap of bears staying on the ice to avoid expending all the energy needed to move to land.  The shrinking polar ice is a real problem for polar bears.

**********

Web Links

Energetics Study Indicates that Shrinking Sea Ice Is Creating an Ecological Trap for Polar Bears

Photo, posted October 30, 2011, courtesy of Martin Lopatka via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Figuring Out Photosynthesis | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Plants have been harnessing the sun’s energy for hundreds of millions of years. Algae and photosynthetic bacteria have been doing the same for even longer, all with remarkable efficiency and resiliency. 

People have used the energy of the sun in one way or another for millennia, but only recently have we gotten sophisticated about it by using devices like solar panels and sensors.  And we still have a long way to go to get anywhere close to the efficiency of plants. It’s no wonder, then, that scientists have long sought to understand exactly how photosynthesis works.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, and collaborators at Washington University in St. Louis, recently solved a critical part of the age-old mystery of photosynthesis, studying the initial, ultra-fast events through which photosynthetic proteins capture light and use it to initiate a series of electron transfer reactions.  Electrons in plants have two possible pathways to travel but only use one.   

But as a result of their efforts, the scientists are now closer than ever to being able to design electron transfer systems in which they can send an electron down a pathway of their choosing. 

By gaining the ability to harness the flow of energy, it may be possible to incorporate new design principles in non-biological energy systems. This could allow us to greatly improve the efficiency of many solar-powered devices, potentially making them far smaller. Understanding the intricacies of photosynthesis creates a tremendous opportunity to open up completely new disciplines of light-driven biochemical reactions, perhaps even ones that haven’t been envisioned by nature.

**********

Web Links

Scientists unravel mystery of photosynthesis

Photo, posted June 14, 2017, courtesy of Alex Holyoake via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A First In The Climate Change Fight | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Under a new initiative, builders in New Jersey will have to take climate change into account in order to win government approval for projects.  New Jersey is the first state in the United States to enact such a requirement, which will leverage land-use rules to control what and where developers can build, and limit the volume of pollution. 

Through executive order, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will require the state Department of Environmental Protection to draft new building regulations.  The changes, to be adopted by January 2022, do not require legislative approval, but could face political and legal challenges. 

Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on New Jersey and its 130 miles of coastline.  According to a recent study from Rutgers University, the sea level along the New Jersey coast rose 1.5 feet since 1911, which was more than twice as much as the global average. The sea level is expected to rise by as much as another foot by 2030.  At the same time, some coastal areas of New Jersey are gradually sinking.

The initiative by New Jersey comes on the heels of a Trump administration proposal which would allow federal agencies to not take climate change into account when evaluating infrastructure projects. The federal changes are geared towards speeding up approvals for highway construction, pipelines, oil and gas leases, and other major infrastructure projects.   

In the absence of anything resembling leadership on climate change from the federal government, it remains for states like New Jersey to continue to press ahead.  In addition to the new building initiative, New Jersey also plans to produce 100% clean energy by 2050. 

**********

Web Links

Excluding Climate Change From Infrastructure Planning | Earth Wise

With 130-Mile Coast, New Jersey Marks a First in Climate Change Fight

Photo, posted August 27, 2016, courtesy of Rashaad Jorden via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saving Energy At Data Centers | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

A data center is a building, dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and data storage systems.  Data centers are the backbone of internet services and cloud computing, which together are increasingly dominant elements of modern life.

Energy use is a central issue for data centers. Power used by them ranges from a few kilowatts for a rack of servers in a closet at a local business to several tens of megawatts for large facilities. Some data centers have power densities more than 100 times that of a typical office building and use as much electricity as several thousand homes. For such facilities, electricity costs are a dominant operating expense and account for over 10% of the total cost of ownership of a data center.  These centers, with their numerous racks of computer servers, consume 90 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year in the United States, as much as all of our residences use for lighting. 

A research group at Princeton University is developing a family of devices that can dramatically reduce power consumption at data centers.  The team’s technology focuses on the process by which the AC power from the grid is converted to the low-voltage direct current used by computer equipment.  With existing technology, this power conversion takes place in each individual computer, which ends up wasting about 40% of the original energy.   The new device aggregates power conversion into a single unit, which then distributes the power to the individual computers and storage units.

As data centers get bigger and more numerous, the opportunity to save a lot of energy becomes increasingly important.

**********

Web Links

New technology boosts energy efficiency in data centers

Photo, posted June 8, 2007, courtesy of Sean Ellis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

American Households and Food Waste | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Food waste is a big problem.  According to the United Nations, approximately one-third of the food produced globally – more than 1.4 billion tons – goes to waste.  If food waste was a country adding carbon to the atmosphere, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases – behind only the U.S. and China.  All of this food waste takes place in a world where 815 million people – more than 10% of the people on the planet – are chronically undernourished.

A new study recently published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics has analyzed the level of food waste for individual American households. It found that American households waste, on average, nearly one-third of all the food they acquire.  This wasted food has an estimated aggregate value of $240 billion annually.  Divided by the number of U.S. households, this food waste could be costing the average household about $1,866 per year. 

According to researchers, the households with higher household incomes generate more food waste.  Those with healthier diets, which include more perishable fruits and vegetables, also waste more food.  

Meanwhile, households with greater food insecurity, especially those that participate in the federal SNAP food assistance program, as well as those households with a larger number of members, were associated with less food waste.  Households that use shopping lists and those that travel further to reach the grocery store were also associated with lower levels of food waste. 

When food is wasted, the resources used to produce food, including land, energy, water and labor, are wasted as well.  We have to do better. 

**********

Web Links

SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction

US households waste nearly a third of the food they acquire

Photo, posted March 22, 2009, courtesy of Nick Saltmarsh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Harvesting Blue Energy | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

There are various ways to generate renewable energy from the world’s oceans, most obviously from the power of tides and waves.  But there is also an oceanic energy source called osmotic or “blue” energy.  Osmotic energy uses the differences in pressure and salinity between freshwater and saltwater to generate electricity. 

When freshwater and saltwater are mixed together, large amounts of energy are released. If the freshwater and seawater are then separated via a semi-permeable membrane, the freshwater will pass through the membrane and dilute the saltwater due to the chemical potential difference. This process is called osmosis. If the salt ions are captured completely by the membrane, the passing of water through the membrane will create a pressure known as osmotic pressure. This pressure can be used to generate electricity by using it to drive a turbine.  This has been demonstrated to work as far back as the 1970s, but the materials we have to use are not adequate to withstand ocean conditions over the long term and tend to break down quickly in the water.

New research, published in the journal Joule, looked to living organisms for inspiration to develop an improved osmotic energy system.  Scientists from the U.S. and Australia combined multiple materials to mimic the kind of high-performance membranes that are found in living organisms.  They created a hybrid membrane made from aramid microfibers (like those used in Kevlar) and boron nitride.  The new material provides both the flexibility of cartilage and the strength and stability of bone.

The researchers believe that the low cost and high stability of the new hybrid membrane will allow it to succeed in volatile marine environments.  They also expect the technology will be both efficient and scalable. 

**********

Web Links

Inspired by the Tissues of Living Organisms, Researchers Take One Step Closer to Harvesting “Blue Energy”

Photo, posted February 14, 2017, courtesy of Marian May via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

How Environmentally Friendly Are We? | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Many of us are very concerned about the environment and want to try to do the right things as we go about our daily lives.  New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that we tend to overestimate just how much we are actually doing.

A study of over 4,000 people in United States, England, India, and Sweden revealed that most people are convinced that they act more environmentally friendly than the average person.  Their actions might include buying eco-labelled products, saving household energy, recycling, driving a hybrid or electric car, and reducing purchases of plastic bags.  Participants in the survey rated themselves as more environmentally active than other people, including both unknown people as well as their own friends.

The results are in keeping with a general tendency people have to overestimate their own abilities.  Studies over the years have shown that most people consider themselves, for example, to be more honest, more creative, and better drivers than others.  This sort of over-optimism apparently also applies to environmentally friendly behaviors.

The data from the survey revealed that the participants were more likely to overestimate their engagement in activities they perform often and draw the faulty conclusion that the things they do often, they in fact do more often than others.

A consequence of thinking that you are more environmentally friendly than other people is that it can reduce the motivation to act environmentally friendly in the future.  In fact, when we think we are more environmentally friendly than others, we actually end up becoming less environmentally friendly.

Logically speaking, the majority of people cannot be more environmentally friendly than the average person.  We are not living in Lake Wobegone where all children are above average.

**********

Web Links

The majority consider themselves more environmentally friendly than others

Photo, posted March 6, 2014, courtesy of Karlis Dambrans via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Plan For New England Offshore Wind | Earth Wise

By Leave a Comment

Last December, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned off lease rights for developing offshore wind in the New England Wind Energy Area.  The auction brought in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Recently, the five New England offshore wind leaseholders – Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Ørsted, Eversource, and Vineyard Wind – jointly submitted a uniform turbine layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The five developers joined forces to respond to feedback from key stakeholders in the region including the fisheries industry, the Coast Guard, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and coastal communities.

The proposed layout specifies that wind turbines will be spaced one nautical mile apart, arranged in east-west rows an north-south columns, and the rows and columns will be continuous across all New England lease area.  Independent expert analysis confirmed that this uniform layout would provide for robust navigational safety and search-and-rescue capability by providing hundreds of transit corridors to accommodate the region’s vessel traffic.

Vessels up to 400 feet in length can safely operate within the proposed turbine layout and will allow the region’s many fishing vessels to follow a wide range of transit paths as they come from many different ports and head to a variety of fishing grounds.

The New England Wind Energy Area is expected to be able to provide as much as 8 GW of electricity generation for the states in the region.  Getting approval for this planned layout is one of multiple steps required before the offshore wind complex becomes a reality.  Overall, states along the U.S. East Coast are seeking to procure more than 19,300 MW of offshore wind capacity through 2035

**********

Web Links

New England offshore wind developers submit uniform layout proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)